The first
afternoon and second morning was spent in our Senate District 5 Caucus. During
this time we elected our representatives to the permanent Rules Committee, the
Platform Committee, as well as several other committees.
Russell
Martinez of Walker County and Megan Higginbotham of Williamson County were chosen
to act as our Representatives for the next two years. I look forward to working
with both of them. Voting was difficult because all the folks running for these
offices were good quality people and any of them would have made good
representatives for SD-5.
Later that
afternoon we had more speeches with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Senator John Cornyn,
and Lt Gov. David Dewhurst. Then we began the review and acceptance of the Party
Rules and Platform. We finally had to recess from that for the first Congressional
District Caucus session. During our first CD-17 Caucus session we choose the
Caucus Officers and I was privileged to be chosen as the Vice-Chair of the
CD-17 Caucus. After that we had an address by CD-17 Representative Bill Flores.
After the
CD-17 Caucus everyone broke for the night’s gatherings. Some went to the Governor’s
Gala event which featured the likes of Rick Santorum. I chose not to go and I
think I got the best out of it as I ran into Herman Cain in the lobby of our
Hotel and was able to have a pretty nice conversation with him. What a super
nice man.
We discussed
several things including my Great-Uncle who was one of the founders and leaders
of the Henry County Georgia GOP where Mr. Cain lives. I think I got the best
end of the Gala deal because I didn’t even have to buy a ticket and got to
spend some time with a real gentleman of the Republican Party.
Later that night we reassembled for the nights work to finalize the rules and platform finishing up about 11:30 pm. These sessions are some of the fun of the convention as you see all the folks with agendas and all the people who have WAY too much knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order. To many folks it is boring and hard to follow, but in reality it is honestly how the wheels of democracy work.
Saturday we
all got up bright and early to head to the second and final CD-17 Caucus to
elect our representatives for the Republican National Convention in Tampa. We also
had to elect an Elector to the National Convention as well as the National
Committeeman and Committeewoman for the Republican National Executive
Committee. Then we finally headed to the Arena for our last General Session and
the concluding votes on the National Delegates and Electors.
The final
speakers were the National Committeeman Dr. Robin Armstrong and Committeewoman Col.
Borah Van Dormolen (US Army Ret.) – Two exceptional conservatives. Ted Cruz and
David Dewhurst also spoke about their July run-off for the US Senate. But the
best speeches of the day were those of Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and
Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. These two men are the sort we need in
the highest offices.
Following
the speeches we still had one last hurdle, and thanks to the Congressional
District representing Fort Worth we had to wait until 5:30 pm to begin the
final voting; nothing like having the hometown folks holding up the works. But
we got it all done and we headed home having completed the tough work that
needs to be done to allow our party to function and to organize our mechanism
towards victory in November.
I would like
to personally thank all those who attended the convention. For the second
convention in a row we were able to have a full delegation and were able to
vote at full strength. For a small county like Milam County I can’t even begin
to tell you how significant that is. So thank you to those delegates and
alternates who stood fast and took part.
If you are
interested in the 2014 convention then come on out and get involved. The 2014
convention will be in Fort Worth again and we are already making plans to make
the 2014 the best experience for the Republican Party of Milam County
Delegation.
Got to Get
Some Rest,
Bill
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